The Mexican Suitcase

In late December 2007, three small cardboard boxes arrived at the International Center of Photography from Mexico City after a long and mysterious journey. These tattered boxes – the so-called Mexican Suitcase – contained the legendary Spanish Civil War negatives of Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David Seymour (known as “Chim”). Rumors had circulated for years of the survival of the negatives, which had disappeared from Capa’s Paris studio at the beginning of World War II. Together, these roles of film constitute an inestimable record of photographic innovation and war photography, but also of the great political struggle to determine the course of Spanish history and to turn back the expansion of global fascism.\nThe two-volume publication The Mexican Suitcase accompanies a major exhibition at the International Center of Photography opening in September 2010. The catalogue features essays by Paul Preston, Simon Dell, David Balsells i Solé, Michel Lefebvre, Bernard Lebrun, Brian Wallis, Cynthia Young, and Kristen Lubben, as well as a complete reproduction of the 4,500 negatives in the suitcase.\nAwards\nDeutscher Fotobuchpreis 2011 Gold Medal